57-year-old Loran Cole was executed by the state on Thursday as the last step in his punishment for the 1994 murder of an 18-year-old college student. Cole was convicted that year of murdering John Edwards, a Florida State University freshman, and of raping his older sister in the Ocala National Forest.
Cole is the first death row inmate to be executed in Florida this year, compared to six total executions in 2023. He is the fourth inmate to be executed for crimes committed in Marion County, and the first since Edward Castro in December 2000. Cole was executed by lethal injection, and was also serving two life sentences for the rape of his victim's sister.
The time of death was listed as 6:15 pm. According to reports from the execution, Cole declined to provide any last words before his execution. His final consisted of pizza, ice cream, M&Ms candy, and soda according to Newsweek.
Before the grisly crimes were committed, Cole was said to have met and befriended the Edwards siblings after meeting them in Ocala. He's said to have attacked and robbed them before beating John and taking his sister captive. John was beaten severely and had his throat slashed by his attacker, before being left to die. The sister was bound to a tree and raped, and was left there overnight. The next morning Cole is said to have raped her again before she was able to escape captivity. After she got the attention of a passerby, law enforcement officials came to find the brother dead.
As is common for death row executions, it took decades from Cole's conviction for him to actually be killed. He and his lawyers exhausted many points of recourse to try and prevent or delay the killing, all the way up to a final appeal to the United States Supreme Court on Thursday. It was denied. Another perpetrator tied to the attack, William Paul, is still serving life in prison after pleading guilty in 1995.
Ron DeSantis has now seen nine inmates executed during his time as governor, tied for the fifth most out of the seven Florida governors who've been in office while the death penalty has been federally legal. The governor who's overseen the most is easily Rick Scott, who saw 28 inmates executed during his governorship. Charlie Crist saw the least, with only five in his single term.
